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The Hardy Boys
The Hardy Boys is the all-time best selling and longest running novel series for boys. The first book was published in 1926, by Grosset & Dunlap and new titles are being published to this day by Simon & Schuster. Plot summery The series tells the adventures of teen brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, and their fight against crime. The two brothers live in the town of Bayport (the location of most of the books), along with their private investigator father, Fenton Hardy, their mother Laura, and their Aunt Gertrude. The Hardy’s detective skills are famous around the Bayport area, and are often helped by friends, Chet Morton, Biff Hooper, Tony Prito, Phil Cohen, and girlfriends Callie Shaw and Iola Morton. They also work with the local police. Because of this they have got to know some officers quite well, such as Con Riley and Chief Collig. Series history Original series (1927–1979) The Hardy Boys is a creation of Edward Statemeyer’s Stratemeyer Syndicate, the creators of dozens of successful book series such as Tom Swift, the Rover Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, and later, Nancy Drew. By the mid-1920s detective novels had become very popular in adult fiction. It was at this time that occurred to Edward Statemeyer that a series of this sort might also appeal to young boys. What Statemeyer had in mind was a series of mystery novels on a juvenile level. So in the fall of 1926, he sent a letter to Leslie McFarlane, a Canadian journalist who had worked for Stratemeyer before on the “Dave Fearless Adventure Series”. The letter contained information about Stratemeyer’s new idea, and an outline for the first title, The Tower Treasure. McFarlane accepted and went on to write the first 22 books in the series; all under the name Franklin W. Dixon. Substantial revisions to the first 38 titles began in 1959. Over the course of 15 years the series was revised to modernize outdated vernacular, reduce story length, age the characters and remove the ethnic and racial stereotypes prevalent in many of the early books (although the series was unusually inclusive for the era in having two non-WASP Hardy sidekicks who were portrayed as normal, fully assimilated teenagers—Tony Prito and Phil Cohen). The result of this process varied from one book to another. In some cases only minor changes resulted, while in others the entire plot and storyline were thrown out, resulting in an entirely new book bearing no resemblance to the original. In 1979, after 52 years and 58 titles (and the spin-off, Hardy Boys Detective Handbook), Grosset & Dunlap lost the rights to publish any new Hardy Boys adventures in a protracted court battle with the Syndicate. They did retain the right to continue publishing the first 58 titles and continue to do so to this day, despite several changes in ownership. In the meantime, Simon & Schuster continued the series in The Hardy Boys Digest series. Digest series (1979 – 2005) Being a continuation of the original series, the Digest series was worked on by many of the same authors and was written in very much the same style. The first 27 volumes were published in hardcover and paperback, but all books after that, were published in paperback format only. After publishing eight books in 1979 and 80, Simon & Schuster started publishing six new titles a year, and did so until 1986, in this year no books were released. The Digest series resumed publication in 1987, also a new series was started, The Hardy Boys Casefiles. The Casefiles (1987-1998) The Casefiles series, was aimed at early to mid-teens and was a big change in the Hardy Boys world. In the very first volume, Dead on Target, Joe’s girlfriend Iola Morton is killed by a car bombing. As the story goes on Frank and Joe start work with a top secret organization, the Network, and discover that a terrest group, named the Assassins, is responsible for the bombing. The Assassins become the Hardy boys’ arch nemesis, and along the Network are featured in many of the 127 Casefiles. The Undercover Brothers (2005-present) In 2005 the Digest series was discontinued and replaced by The Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series. Unlike the books published in the previous 78 years, these books are not told in third person narrative style, but in first person, with Frank and Joe alternating chapters. In this series Frank and Joe work for ATAC, American Teens Against Crime, a top-secret government organization co-founded by their father, Fenton. TV appearances The Hardy Boys have appeared in five different television shows. The Mickey Mouse Club, Hardy Boys TV series (1955-1957) In the late 1950s, Disney contracted with the Stratemeyer Syndicate to produce two Hardy Boys TV serials, starring Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk. In 1955, The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure was made, based on The Tower Treasure. The second serial, The Mystery of the Ghost Farm was released in 1957. Both aired on the Mickey Mouse Club.[http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbtv.htm#50s The Unofficial Hardy Boys Home Page, R.W. Finnan]: On Television, 1950's The Mystery of the Chinese Junk pilot (1967) In 1967, an hour-long pilot of a new Hardy Boys TV show was aired on CBS, starring Tim Matthieson (later Matheson) as Joe Hardy and Rick Gates as Frank. But the show was not popular and the series wasn't continued. The pilot was closely adapted from The Mystery of the Chinese Junk.[http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbtv.htm#60s The Unofficial Hardy Boys Home Page, R.W. Finnan]: On Television, 1960's The Hardy Boys animated series (1969-1971) In 1969, ABC ran a Saturday Morning cartoon series produced by Filmation. In this series the Hardy boys are in a rock band and use it as a front to investigate mysteries. The animated series produced two bubblegum music albums released by RCA: Here Come The Hardys and Wheels. Several singles from the albums were also released.[http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbtv.htm#60a The Unofficial Hardy Boys Home Page, R.W. Finnan]: On Television, 1960's Animated The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977-1979) The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Mysteries was an ABC prime time series starring Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy that first aired on Sunday, January 30, 1977. The Hardy Boys alternated with Nancy Drew, and once every fifth week in January and February 1977 with The Brady Bunch Hour. In the second season, the Hardys were joined by Nancy Drew (played by Pamela Sue Martin and, later, Janet Louise Johnson) for some episodes. Nancy was dropped altogether in the fall of 1978. The show went for three seasons with forty-six episodes, including 28 Hardy Boys episodes, 10 Nancy Drew only episodes, and 8 Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew cross-over episodes; the show went off the air in January 1979.[http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbtv.htm#70s The Unofficial Hardy Boys Home Page, R.W. Finnan]: On Television, 1970's Most of the Hardys' friends never made regular appearances in the show, although Chet Morton do show up twice in the first season, while Callie Shaw was featured as Fenton’s part-time office assistant. Seasons one and two have been released on DVD. The Hardy Boys (1995) In 1995 a TV show simply called The Hardy Boys staring Colin Gray and Paul Popowich was produced and syndicated by New Line Television, a division of New Line Cinema. The show was co-produced by Nelvana Ltd. and Marathon Productions, S.A. in association with Westcom Entertainment Group Ltd. of Canada. The same company also produced a Nancy Drew series and the two shows were normally booked into a one hour time slot together. Both series were also produced in French and shown in France and French-speaking Canada. In this series Frank works for a newspaper and Joe is a college student. The show only lasted one season with 13 episodes and one episode crossed over with Nancy Drew.[http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbtv.htm#90s The Unofficial Hardy Boys Home Page, R.W. Finnan]: On Television, 1990's TV Show Memorabilia The Mickey Mouse Club series, the animated series and the 1970s ABC-TV series were responsible for the creation of many items of Hardy Boys memorabilia such as board games, comic books, jigsaw puzzles, dolls and other items. Films The Hardy Men It is reported that actors Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise are in discussion to film a grown up version of the Hardy Boys for the big screen. The film will portray the boys as grown adults, thus naming the film "The Hardy Men". Computer games Nancy Drew The Hardy Boys have appeared in two games in the Nancy Drew PC games series by Her Interactive. They appeared Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (2005) and then in 2006 for the first time as playable characters in The Creature of Kapu Cave. Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys: Super Mystery Series (2007-Date) Based on the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Mystery book series, this PC computer game (by Her Interactive) was set to come out on December 31, 2007, and feature both Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys. Her Interactive has since declared that it has not been working on this game, even though at least one site still lists Her Interactive as doing so.http://www.gamestats.com/objects/697/697471/ The Hardy Boys (2008-Date) JoWooD and The Adventure Company, announced on September 26, 2007 that they have entered into a partnership with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing to develop a series of interactive games based The Hardy Boys. The titles will release worldwide over the next five years, with the first title The Tower Treasure set to release in the fall 2008. http://pc.gamezone.com/news/09_26_07_12_10PM.htm Further reading * Billman, Carol; The Secret Of The Stratemeyer Syndicate * Carpentieri, Tony; Frank & Joe Turn Blue * Carpentieri, Tony & Mular, Paul; Hardy & Hardy Investigations * Connelly, Mark; The Hardy Boys Mysteries, 1927–1979, A Cultural and Literary History * Garis, Roger; My Father Was Uncle Wiggily * Greenwald, Marilyn S.; The Secret Of The Hardy Boys * Johnson, Diedre; Stratemeyer Pseudonyms and Series Books * Johnson, Diedre; Edward Stratemeyer and the Stratemeyer Syndicate * McFarlane, Leslie; Ghost of the Hardy boys; an autobiography * Prager, Arthur; Rascals At Large ---- References External links *The Hardy Boys Casefiles Encyclopedia - a Hardy Boys news source and encyclopedia. *Hardy Detective Agency Fanfiction - fan site with fan fiction, series information, and fan art. *The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page - website with information on series, TV shows and memorabilia. *